servings of rain and snow..n the holiday storm let up. a true california christmas

with servings of rain and snow. when the holiday storm will finally let up. >> and it was kind of nationalistic. >> yes. >> that was a specific request from our owners in china. >> from napa grapes to california real estate. why china is suddenly buying american. and just in time for christmas, an injured dog rescued by the kindness of strangers. good evening and merry christmas. i'm elizabeth cook. let's get right to it. some impressive rainfall totals. paul? >> reporter: more rainfall. another inch of rainfall throughout much of the bay area. here is a four-hour time lapse of what has been going around this evening. maybe you've been hanging out chilling with your family. outside it's been quite the storm. it's been rough out there. here's what's going on right now with a little bit of the break in the north bay and the east bay, which has received a significant amount of rainfall over the past half hour. exiting san jose right now and

across the past 20 to 30 minutes. and over the top of hayward and also the oakland hills. the rainfall just from today, christmas, more than an inch for kentfield and another inch, plus a little change. nearly an inch of rainfall for alameda and almost one inch of rainfall today in lafayette. that means almost half a foot of rain so far this month at sfo. last december through christmas, we had .8 inches of rainfall. this year we have seen 44 more times of rain compared to last december. now there are sunnier moments coming up in your extended forecast. we will let you know when we have put together three straight days. >> all right, thank you, paul. on the peninsula, people who live along a creek are watching the water nervously. afraid that it will overflow again. cbs 5 reporter is in east pal alto where a flood on sunday night pretty much ruined their

holidays. >> reporter: last night they stacked these sandbags to protect homes in this neighborhood. today they have stayed pretty low. people tell me that they are taking the threat of another flood very seriously. >> it has been a crazy couple of days. >> reporter: a crazy couple of days for people that live in this east palo alto neighborhood. water seeped flu the levy as homes were evacuated. >> and we had to leave everything behind. >> reporter: christmas eve residence returned while the crews with the city and the california conservation core work on the night for repair. by christmas day hundreds lined the levy as more rain set in. even more sandbags were seen stacked outside of homes mixed in with the holiday decoration. >> we knew high tide was

coming. >> kids didn't wake up in the morning thinking that they would have to help their parents clean out their front yards and, you know, clean up the cars. they wanted to go outside to play with their gifts. >> reporter: the people that live in this house were forced to spend christmas away from home. their house was badly damaged by the flood and it is unsafe. because the electrical outlets were affected. the creek levels were the third highest in recorded history. today though they stayed low. and the city is working with the engineers on the long-term solution and a project to increase the capacity of the creek that should begin next year. until then, residence will be keeping up a close eye on the levy. >> we have a bad christmas. so you know he is ready to let it go when i think about it. move on with life. >> reporter: and aside from the sandbags, the work servicest coo visited the area around the weeks and refilled them. these repairs should last throughout the rest of the rainy season. in east palo alto. well the storm has dumped a lot of snow in the sierras.

while not everyone thought about fighting the traffic and the chain controls to get up there, some bay area families, they decided to head out right after opening their presents and play in the first snow they found. >> it's 6:00 in the morning. they got all their food. >> there is more snow than usual this winter. the california department of water resources says that there has been a 140% increase in this year's snow pack. but the extra snow has meant extra dangers out there on the slopes. the snowboarder was killed yesterday after being buried in an avalanche. the sheriff's department identified him as the 49-year- old steve anderson of a small town near truckee. the search dog found anderson under two to three feet of snow. >> his friends, the other friends that were going to be in our group were looking for

them. but they did not find them. >> reporter: and officials at alpine meadows say that veteran ski patrols died in an avalanche during the snow safety mission yesterday. an explosive used to start avalanches broke a slide much higher and wider than expected. even though foster was under the snow for less than 10 minutes, he died later at a reno hospital. you can track the storm any time with our live high-def doppler radar on our website, cbssf.com/weather. storm warnings are in place tonight for much of the nation's mid-section. the national weather service says that some parts of upstate new york and pennsylvania could see up to two feet of snow creating whiteout conditions. forecasters are warning states by the gulf to brace for a tornado. the severe weather is complicating travel plans for people trying to get to their homes for the holidays. they canceled flights out of

dallas, cleveland, and chicago. president obama is cutting his hawaiian vacation short to get back to fiscal cliff talks in washington. the country is a week away from the tax increases and deep spending cuts that will be triggered without an agreement. the next move will likely fall on democratic senate leader harry reid who is crafting a package on his own. it would extend the bush era tax cuts for households making less than $250,000 a year including the short-term spending cuts. and it is a scary statistic for the recent college graduates. the number of young californians with the degrees working in restaurants or the retail, they have nearly doubled over the last five years. cbs 5 reporter tells us that these are the same people who have expensive college loans to pay off. >> reporter: when you're shopping this holiday season, or eating out, take a look around. you might notice a lot more people under 30 working those

jobs. according to the census bureau, there are about 260,000 young adults with college degrees in california, taking work and food service in retail because they can't get anything else. >> it's pretty sad now, yeah. >> reporter: graduating with a computer science degree. >> i graduated with my bachelor's in 2009 and my first job was actually at a retail store at the mall. at first it was kind of embarrassing. >> i couldn't get a job in the field i wanted to. so i figured i would go to law school to change to be where i want to be. >> reporter: even with a higher degree it is still tough. he is still in college and worried about his future because his friends have been forced to take jobs they don't even want. >> they settle with retail businesses. even all my friends work at mcdonald's and places like that because of the higher jobs that are hard to get these days. >> reporter: with the low- paying jobs, it will be that

much harder. with tuitions rising across the nation, those bills are stacking up. >> one of my friends bar tend and work at the restaurant just to pay off the loan that she got. >> reporter: she has a 4-year- old as she is worried about what kind of a world her daughter will face. >> it is really disstressing. i got out of the school in the early 90s. it's a tough market. >> reporter: with all these college graduates, what about the people who don't have degrees? well apparently they took these jobs and now they are finding it nearly impossible to get into the job market. it's not easy if you don't have experience. in san francisco, grace lee, cbs 5. one of the positive signs for the economy housing market on new homes. they were up 22% for a year ago. and in california you might be surprised at who is buying. ben tracy has more. >> reporter: this is the busy time of the year for you guys?

>> oh yes, absolutely. this is when all the greats come in. >> there's a good reason that he puts that on the bottle. they are looking to bring parts of north america to china. they bought it and now 90% of the wine from here is up in 9,000 cases, shipped to china. >> reporter: what do they want with the vineyard? >> there is a big demand for china with the luxury goods and goods that are scarce and well made. and so you know rather than buying the chinese made products, sending our money over there, they are buying the american made products, sending them back over here. >> and the jobs stay here? >> yes. >> reporter: they flush with cash and invested about $16.4 billion in the u.s. in the past decade.

$1.3 billion in california. and all in the past year. but the chinese, they are boosting the golden states housing recovery as they bought one out of every ten homes sold in the past year. >> compared to the high-end housing like in beijing, this is not that expensive though. and they thought that renting a door room was a waste of money. >> yeah, my parents decided to buy me a house as an investment outside china. >> reporter: he has sold 22% of the residence at the ritz to affluent chinese. >> they basically have a place to put their money and they look at their own economy as a place that is not very stable and the housing market is not very stable there either. >> reporter: the housing complex in irvine, california is being built for chinese buyers. separate walk cooking rooms, no unlucky fours in the addresses

and multiple dances for multigenerational living. back in napa scott says that the chinese wealth is an opportunity, not a threat for the american business. >> america is known for equality. so the chinese look at the american-made products in general as things that they could trust. >> reporter: afterall that eagle is on the bottle because with so many chinese and what they want is something made in the u.s.a. on this christmas day, a san francisco tradition. 30 years running as neighbors take time to help struggling neighbors. as many of them are strangers. you know, like they donated $500. that's not enough. a family dog is home and healthy for the holidays. how she was saved by total strangers. the howling wolf spoke to their heart more directly than the cries of our baby. an unforgettable holiday gift for the bay area rider.

the owners she has earned from the magazine made famous. ,,,,,,,,,,

evening. it happened at about five o'lock on the cor of thi an explosion sent the manhole coverage flying in san francisco this evening. it happened at about 5:00 on the corner of third and mission. the streets are pretty empty today. nobody was hurt. and that the photographer, they were working to find out what happened, but these underground explosions sending the manhole covers flying are not that unusual in san francisco. usually aging infrastructure is to blame. for decades, the memorial church in san francisco has made christmas better for

thousands. today was no exception. more than 5,000 people were served a christmas meal including turkey, gravy, all the trimmings. the church is a symbol of hope for many, not just during the holidays, but year round. >> and the people here, they will understand that all of us together will make it happen. and if we are separated and isolated, then we cannot make it together. >> reporter: they have served the community with free meals and the services for more than 30 years. and the church depends on donations to make their work possible. tonight, they are thanking the anonymous donors for saving their dog. cbs 5 reporter on how the complete strangers saved the husky and the family's christmas. >> come on. come on. >> two weeks to christmas when nick and lindsay anderson realize that their 7-year-old siberian dog escaped from their

backyard. but it's what they discovered when she came home hours later that was really devastating. >> she started backing -- barking at the front door. that's when we knew she was hurt. >> reporter: she had been hit by a car. her pelvis broken in three places and surgery was going to cost $5,000. >> we can't afford that. they knew putting him down, so they got on craig's list, hoping to find someone that could afford to take care of her. instead they found this woman. >> and yes, she is an angel. >> yes, she is an angel. >> reporter: a guardian angel that works with lindsay to set up this fundraising site on giveforward.com. she even spread the word on facebook. urging total strangers to give money for the surgery. >> one day it was that much. the next morning it was, i

think $1,300, almost double. >> many of them were strangers, donating about $1,500. >> reporter: within four days the site had wracked up $3,300, enough for doctors to go ahead with the surgery just days before christmas. >> knock it off. >> reporter: they are still trying to raise the last $1,300 on giveforward.com. but she is recovering. >> we are just grateful that there are people out there willing to give to a puppy. >> reporter: that they say is priceless. >> wow, a beautiful dog. a berkeley fiction writer is the winner of the saturday evening post. the first ever great american contest. they said that the traditional magazine has been quietly trying to change their image to keep up with the modern times. >> reporter: the saturday even post will bring those iconic

rock well covers to mind. >> reporter: he reads a passage from the story wolf. the winning entry of the magazine's first ever great american fiction contest. >> yes, i feel that there out of security. and i have a small audience, you know, for a number of years. >> reporter: the fascination with the wolves won a cash prize and publication in next month's edition of the post. >> reporter: they follow some of the greatest views of the magazine. >> yeah. >> that much. >> i don't know if i fit in that bunch. i don't know. jack london is in there. >> i'm excited to be a part of

that stream. >> they are there to find the next generation of the great offers, changing their image, moving from the traditional scene on the left to the modern cover look on the right. at work on the new novel and she hopes that the start of the bigger audience. >> i really love capturing who we are and what that is all about. >> reporter: and that is not necessarily fiction. linda yee, cbs 5. it rained a lot. but if you like to ski or just love snow, this is your kind of pattern. there's a winter storm warning for the sierra. 8 to 16 inches of additional snowfall above 3,000 feet. we're going to dry out now. we'll let you know when coming up next. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the streaming video services fully restored now, after b tonight netflix blames amazon for their christmas tree outage. they are fully restored now after being out for a good chunk of the day. they point the finger at the

crowd infrastructure for the problem. amazon provides companies with the online storage and computing. it is separate from the company's shipping website. the rain couldn't dampen the holiday spirit at the great american theme park for the second year that they separated their second global winter wonderland, featuring the chinese lantern. the eco-friendly show was powered by thousands of locals for the big lights. the show runs through the weekend after new years. and paul, we are hoping to get a little bit of a break from this weather, right? >> it's been a long couple of weeks for a lot of folks. we're going to get the break, a break that you may really want. as we are talking about three to four days. they are shifting in focus now to the locations of the south bay. and in east palo alto, they are

stretching across the south bay to fremont. also here you'll be getting poured on in 10 to 15 minutes. one thin lane will be -- line will be heading towards you. you'll be getting pretty wet over the next 10 to 15 minutes. the warmest number that i could find. napa had 54 and oakland with 50. now, you did not escape the 40s today. because of the cloud cover, some of you may level off temperature wise all night long. fremont down to 44. redwood city at 43 degrees with a lot of rainfall out there. at this time of the year it is december. often it is not northern california and the pacific northwest or down to the south. we have been stuck in the pattern over the past several weeks. ever since thanksgiving where most of the storms will make a rather direct hit on into the bay area. such is the case today with the

other storm. one day though because by friday here comes the next storm, it will be after that when we finally get a break for the last two to three days. the rain will move out by tomorrow afternoon. high temperatures tomorrow, mid- 50s. your extended forecast calling for drier weather on thursday. and we will have showers around tomorrow morning. showers are back on friday and saturday, but a longer dry spell sunday through tuesday of next week. that's your cbs 5 forecast. all right ahead if you like basketball, oh man! you're going to love this show. the minute next. ,,,,

oh, you have a keurig vue brewer? oh, it's great! now i can brew my coffee just the way i love it. how do you do that? well, inside the brewer, there's this train that's powerful enough to carry more coffee and fresh water to make coffee that's stronger and bigger... and even hotter! actually, i just press this button. brew the coffee you love -- stronger, bigger, or hotter --

lebron james and the heat, it's christmas and for sports fans it could only mean a full day of round ball. the finals rematch with the thunders here in the second quarter. oh check him with the touchback slam as he had 29 in the third quarter. and now they had 33 and they saw that up and down one with under 30 seconds to go. he gets them there to go on for the win. and give them that there equaling up the two points. off for dwight howard. they are up by 2 in the third

quarter. and the final of 67-49. elsewhere it is the clippers, the rockets, and the celtics, all victorious on the courts today. >> and nothing says christmas like a good game of basketball. >> that's right. >> i bet you could back it down. >> i was okay, with the height off the coordination. >> yes, look out for that. >> yes, lots of traveling. >> oh yeah. >> hey now. hey, watch out. >> that's right. yes, they might get you. we'll see you at 11:00. ,,

hey, dad. i love boleros. share what moves you. go, go, go-- yes ! you've got to get one of these. share a great performance. what are you doing ? this tools app is awesome. share the perfect plan. that is awesome. i'm gonna be right back. share everything. this holiday, get verizon's share everything plan. unlimited talk, text, and shareable data across your family's devices. all in one plan. get a spectrum 2 by lg for $49.99